Ducks and veggies

On Tuesday I had to go get some knitting needles from a local yarn store, so I picked up my bff and we headed west. Afterward, we hung out by the Jordan Creek mall talking and watching the ducks and the fishes in the pond.

Big cheese

Life is ducky

On Wednesday I got to get some free organic veggies thanks to my friends the Foxes. They have left for the week, and asked me if I could pick up their weekly crop from the farm share they invested in. It was quite a treat.

Box of goodies

Cucumber, arugula and dill salad

Seasoned and crisped kale chips

My mom's potato salad recipe

What a treat!

Slumber party

On Friday sisters and I went to Centro for lunch. We had our meal on the patio. It was a lovely day.

Twin #1

Twin #2

 

Then they came over after work, and we watched Mad Men. The next day, we made a delicious lunch, using the tomatoes and eggplant from my parents' garden.

My chefs

Then they had to go to work, and hubby and I went to celebrate his brother-in-law's 30th birthday at Saylorville lake. We mostly hung out with all the kids, splashing them and making balloon bombs.

Fun!

We were definitely exhausted when we got home.
Sunday we stayed at home and did house chores. And in the evening, we relaxed. Another great weekend passed too quickly.

New furniture showroom

Hubby and I finally got our new furniture. It is all set up and ready for use. I am giddy with excitement. Let me show you!
Here is the brand spanking new bedroom:

That's actually dark wood - it's not really that dark in person.

The other angle. The light doesn't do it justice.

 

 

 

 

 

And then there is that room I call the arts/crafts/guest room. My husband calls it the "yellow" room. We are such royalty. We now have a couch that pulls out into a bed. Now I can actually have people spending the night over.

The soft, comfy pull-out couch.

My arts/crafts corner.

And yet another view. Please don't mind the mess.

Finally, let's go to our "formal" dining room. This was unused space for a long time. We both have big families, and we wanted to entertain, but never had enough places to sit down and have a meal together. Well, that is no longer a problem.

Yes, that's a bench on one side.

Our dining/living room area and Wally. 

And now I am in dire need for some art work to put up on the walls. I welcome any suggestions (as long as they are affordable.) I am thinking of doing this thing Amanda did and order some paper prints and frame them. Thoughts?

Tuesday and Wednesday happenings

On Tuesday I met with three friends from graduate school. We went to Cosi Cucina, a wonderful Italian restaurant, where we got to catch up with each other, and talk about puppies, work, school, and vacations.

Emily, Ann, and Lisa - three pretty awesome gals

On Wednesday I cleaned up my arts/crafts/guest room. And I made these:

Pretty pillow covers to go with the room

I love how they turned out. And it wasn't even that hard to do. I really love my new sewing machine.
My chair transformed in the matter of minutes.

Completed!

This weekend was EXHAUSTING. My hubby and I did some work inside and around our house, and I haven't had a chance to blog or knit, or do anything fun. My husband was a slave driver. Most of the projects were initiated and supervised by him. I was just a laborer.
Here is a list of things we accomplished:

1. Changed several light switches (hallway & basement)
2. Changed our door bell (the old one broke)
3. Changed a light bulb in the bedroom - had to make a couple of trips to the hardware store because it is a special kind of bulb ::groan::
4. Mowed the lawn and trimmed all the edges
5. Fought the wasps by our garage doors and removed their nest (sorry wasps - but you started it when you stang my allergic hubby on his ear)
6. Cleared the driveway and sidewalk of grass clippings (I really like our new leaf blower/vacuum)
7. Swept our deck (using the said leaf blower)
8. Beat all the rugs in the house (the blower is a multi-purpose tool, I'm telling you)
9. Vacuumed and steam-cleaned all the floors (I didn't use the blower here... although I was tempted to)
10. Organized kitchen cabinets and drawers (and discovered new treasures)
11. Power-combed our shedding puppy (was again tempted to use the leaf blower)
12. Organized medicine and supply cabinet
13. Organized linen closet (and put all the sets nicely together, at last)
14. Organized shoe closet (Goodwill, here we come!)
15. Sold and helped carry out our old bed frame (thank you, Craigslist!)
16. Went grocery shopping
17. Did laundry - clothes and linens
18. Ironed all clothes and put them away
19. Moved the couch into the office (had to remove door frame to get that sucker in)
20. Changed the door knob in the master bathroom (the old one would not lock anymore)
21. Returned bottles and cans (there were sooo many)
22. Trimmed one of the trees by our deck

...and so on. There was more, but I got tired from listing them all. I couldn't wait for Monday morning. :)

Happy birthday, mom!

My sisters and I bought our mom a plant for her office on her birthday. We just adore her and we know she loves plants. But when they delivered it, we found out it was not a plant - it was a tree. Look at that huge thing! It takes up half of my mom's cube.

I think mom liked it, even though she was yelling at us for spending money (which is so typical for our mom).  And after work, we had dinner together at Red Rossa's to celebrate.

My parents are too cute. Love you both! And wishing you many many many healthy and happy years together.

Productive weekend

Oh, what a busy weekend. On Saturday, I spent some quality time with my family. We first visited the Farmer's Market...

...and then visited a Berry Patch farm where we picked our own blueberries and raspberries. The weather was absolutely perfect.

This was such a fun activity for our family. We had such a great time.
Afterward, my hubby and I visited our next-door neighbors where we were invited to their son Jonathan's 1st birthday party.

 We are really lucky to have such nice neighbors. I am just a bit bummed that they have a for sale sign in their front yard. They are moving out of state as soon as they sell the house. :(
As for our house, hubby and I decided to paint our bedroom on Sunday from a nauseating peach-pink...

...to a serene vintage blue.

The light doesn't do the color justice, but you get the idea. And now I am exhausted and not really ready for a workday Monday. Oh well...